Mark Andrews is convinced that, scrappy though it was, yesterday's 9-8 victory over Sale victory will help the Falcons develop as a team and away from being just a one-man band.

"When I joined the Newcastle last January, it was the first time in my rugby career that I had played in a side who relied on just one player," said the Springbok legend, who has take over the Falcons captaincy from Wilkinson this season.

"Don't get me wrong. Jonny is a one off and probably the No 1 player in world rugby, but you can't just rely on one player in your team.

"At the moment, the side is still adjusting to playing without Jonny, but I believe we have got the potential to be a great side and that, when Jonny returns from the World Cup, he will find that the Falcons are no longer just a one-man band."

Turning to the overall performance yesterday, Andrews added: "Sale are a good side who play basic effective rugby, but I thought we deserved to win because of our commitment.

"It was a huge improvement on the Saracens game."

Andrew expects to be fit for Friday's trip to Leicester after coming off at half-time following a knock on the head.

"It was just a precaution and I don't have concussion, although I'll have to undergo a proper test this week," explained the Newcastle skipper.

"It doesn't look as though Epi (Taione) will be fit following his ankle injury. He went over on his ankle and, when you weigh over 19st, you can do some real damage to the ligaments.

"Dave Walder has a dead leg and we'll just have to see how it responds to treatment during the week, while we will be monitoring Garath's (Archer) back.

"Losing him on the morning of the match unsettled everything, especially the line-outs as we hadn't used Craig (Hamilton) all week.

"But that's no excuse and we'll have to work hard on putting things right there.

"However we still won and we have a much more solid platform to build on."